Friday, March 24, 2017

Bead Soup Swap and Hop Reveal

I really enjoy being paired up with another jewelry designer to swap beads and to get to know each other.  The anticipation of what is going to arrive in that special little package is exciting!  My partner this year is Carol Dillman.  She is a lampwork artist as well as jewelry designer.  How cool is that?  In fact, she created the lampwork beads that i received!


I rarely design in the color palette of the beads that I received, so it was a bit of a challenge for me to decide what direction to go in.  I am a ceramic bead artist, so I found my maroon glaze matched the beads very nicely that Carol made.  I live in Florida and sea life is my favorite inspiration, so I made a focal starfish glazed in the coordinating glaze.  I also made a pair of flower earring charms to pair up with some additional beads in the set.


I challenged myself a bit further by creating a double layer design.  I am quite happy with the way it turned out!  The length is 18" which allows the starfish to be the center of attention in this design. Carols lampwork beads add nice contrast to the ceramic, gemstones and Czech glass accent beads.



The flower earrings are fun and cheerful.  I usually use commercial ear wires, but I made my own for this design.  Even though they are a little longer than I usually make at 3", I love them and I hope you do, too!

Carol - I hope I did your beautiful lampwork beads justice and I can't wait to see what you created with the beads I sent you!  Here is what Carol received from me:


So be sure to visit Carol's blog to see her reveal as well as all the other designers blogs.  And of course a huge Thank You to our blog hostess, Lori Anderson!  It's a huge job :)

Lori Anderson :: Hostess